Bulldogs’ Jenkins signs with A-B

MARTINSBURG – The defensive side of the ball is one that Martinsburg senior Cody Jenkins has taken a liking to.

Even when he was on the opposite side of the ball in practice, he had one goal in mind.

“When I was on offense, my goal was to make the defense better,” Jenkins said. “I wanted to help the team out on both sides of the ball.”

The college options for Jenkins, who played offensive and defensive line for the four-time state champion Bulldogs, were few. He considered West Virginia University for academics rather than football, while schools such as Bethany College, West Liberty and Fairmont State were interested in him for football. In the end, he signed his letter-of-intent recently to play for Alderson-Broaddus.

From a football standpoint, the decision to play for the Battlers was about defensive strategy.

“I like the way that their defense is set up. The coaches came and talked to me and told me about how their defense is run,” Jenkins said.

In the Battlers’ multiple defensive schemes, Jenkins will play in a variety of positions along the defensive line, switching between the “rover” end and defensive tackle.

“They run their defense based on the opposing offense,” Jenkins said. “It depends on what they need, and I will play where the coaches want to play me at.

“The coaches like my speed and my ability to get off the ball. It helps me a lot against bigger offensive linemen that I can be faster than them and then be able to overpower smaller linemen.”

Jenkins is the fourth Bulldogs player to sign with the Battlers, joining teammates A.J. Petry, Daiveyon Moore and Malik Cobb. Also on the current Battlers roster are former Musselman Applemen players Malcolm Lee, Isaac Snyder and Jordan Butler.

“High school is different from college. With those of rival schools, you’re not playing against them but rather playing with them as a team. We may have differences but we will have to play together, but with them teammates, it will feel like high school again,” Jenkins said.

“I have played with Daiveyon and A.J. since we were in pee-wee league. It has been nice to have played with them from pee-wee, through middle and high school and now head into college with them.”